Tuesday, July 22, 2008

why you should twitter with me

Yes, I do have a few friends in mind as I write this, just so the hidden agenda has been exposed, right from the start. But, even if I don't have you in mind, I believe these reasons apply to all.

"It's just ANOTHER social networking site I gave to keep up with!"I know, I said this a few weeks ago too.But Twitter is:

1) less distracting and far less involved than Facebook(notice I didn't and won't necessarily say "better than" Facebook)How many times have you been the middle of your work, gone to FB "just to change your status", and ended up getting sucked into the black hole for 35 minutes?*raises hand higher than most*no games, no waaay lame applications, no photos, no videos on TwitterYou know you've done it - gone to check up on one person and 11 people and 7 new photo albums later you're thinking, "Why did I get on here in the first place?"

2) an easy way to let friends know of you're latest blog post or a website they should check outits a quick and easy way to broadcast your latest literary sculpture using something like twitterfeedto direct friends to your blog or to let them know of the latest hilarious "Flight of the Conchords" concert footage on Youtube

3) SMALL interruptions and distractions boost productivitythis is in contrast to those large (see 35 minute black hole trap above) distractions that leave you thinking, "why am I even working today?" Here's something from a great productivity blog, Lifehacker, "Social media is the equivalent of digital food. It's nourishing, tasty and, for many of us, necessary. However, consume too much and you can get sidetracked and create larger consequences. The good news is you can participate in social media in a way that adds value to your life. You just need to know how to manage it so so that it does not devour your attention..."

4) get personal info out to friends concisely and quicklyto connect you to friends and allows them into your world140 characters or less! - this has been referred to around the web as "micro"blogging - quick, concise posts. Learning to do this I believe is a valuable skill, especially for public communicators and writers Also, your updates don't have to go out to the entire web, they can just go to your twitter "followers" - think Facebook's and MySpace's "friends". Therefore, the whole world doesn't have to know that you are having a hard time guessing who The Mole is this season. Who knew that you loved to eat cookies with a spoon, floating in a glass of chilled milk? This may seem pointless to send out to your friends, but it is this kind of material that connects others, and helps you belong in a public or private environment (a la Joe Meyers)

6) it answers the question every one of us asks when we call them, "what are you doing?" thats how we begin a conversation, that's how we slowly open the door to have friends connect with us. *insert discourse here about how we all truthfully want to connect and belong*

7) it can be incredibly encouraging (another a la comin here...a la Colossians 2:2)if I knew you were up all night with your newborn I'd be SURE to send some love. If you were having a rough time with your boss/friends/profs/or ALL THREE, others can give you that 140- characters-or-less message to carry with you through it. Am I sermonzing? Perhaps. Am I too sentimental. Double perhaps. Join me

8) if you have the luxury of unlimited texting, you can go mobile and have the "tweets" (the updates from your friends) sent to your pocketYou have the option to customize your settings to send and receive updates on your cellphone, from some OR all your friends. This makes for interesting updates like "I cant believe how long this mullet is in front of me in the check out line."

When you arrive in the Twitter-sphere, look me up. We'll have some fun.

Dude, are they paying you? I want to pass out just thinking about adding one more site to keep up with. However, because of your persuasive advertisment, I will at least look at it. Don't get your hopes up, though...:/ i'm afraid!lj